Why do volunteer content moderators quit? Burnout, conflict, and harmful behaviors

Abstract

Moderating content on social media can lead to severe psychological distress. However, little is known about the type, severity, and consequences of distress experienced by volunteer content moderators (VCMs), who do this work voluntarily. We present results from a survey that investigated why Facebook Group and subreddit VCMs quit, and whether reasons for quitting are correlated with psychological distress, demographics, and/or community characteristics. We found that VCMs are likely to experience psychological distress that stems from struggles with other moderators, moderation team leads’ harmful behaviors, and having too little available time, and these experiences of distress relate to their reasons for quitting. While substantial research has focused on making the task of detecting and assessing toxic content easier or less distressing for moderation workers, our study shows that social interventions for VCM workers, for example, to support them in navigating interpersonal conflict with other moderators, may be necessary.